Max Holland: The Prince of Egypt (1998) Movie Review

The Prince of Egypt (1998) is an animated biblically inspired epic family movie from DreamWorks Animation. It stars Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer and Danny Glover in major voice roles. It's based on the story of Moses from the book of Exodus. It got very positive reviews from critics and was a box office success and is considered a classic. I saw this movie in theaters when I was 5 years old. It was actually the first movie I remember seeing in theaters and it was quite an experience. Looking back on it now, I have to say this is my favorite DreamWorks animated feature. I rewatched it just recently as an adult after finding it on Netflix and I'd say it's aged like fine wine.

There will be spoilers here but considering that everyone's familiar with the story of Moses, I don't think they'd be considered "spoilers".

The movie's conflict involves a tribe of Hebrews in Egypt being persecuted by the Egyptians under the rule of the Pharoah Seti. Seti has a philosophy that sacrifices must be made for the greater good. A mother sends her newborn son away in a basket on the streams of the Nile to save him from the persecution. The baby is then found by the Pharoah's queen Tuya, and she names him Moses (Val Kilmer) and they raise him as their own.

Seti and Tuya's biological son Rameses (Ralph Fiennes) serves as Moses' adoptive brother and two form a dynamic. Moses, being promoted to Prince of Egypt (hence the film's title) is favored by Seti and Tuya, and this makes Rameses jealous of the former. This leads to Moses and Rameses being rivals throughout the movie. Moses then has an encounter with two Hebrew siblings, Aaron (Jeff Goldblum) and Miriam (Sandra Bullock). They reveal to Moses that they are his long-lost brother and sister.

Moses at first doesn't believe them, and then Miriam sings the lullaby that their mother would sing when Moses was an infant, which he finds strangely familiar. Moses then learns the shocking truth about his life and then flees the palace. He gets stranded in the desert and gets rescued by the tribe of Hebrews, led by their high priest Jethro (Danny Glover). Jethro gives Moses a pep talk in song form to look at his life through Heaven's eyes. Jethro has a daughter named Tzipporah (Michelle Pfeiffer), who serves as Moses' love interest and the two are later married.

Years pass and Moses adapts to the Hebrew lifestyle and develops a faith in God. Then one day, Moses has an encounter with God who speaks to him through a burning bush and sends him on a mission to let the Hebrews go. Moses returns to the Egyptian palace to find that Rameses has taken his father's place as the new Pharoah. As Pharoah, Rameses sticks to his father's harsh ways as part of Egyptian tradition, but also does so out of spite for Moses, so he ends up being the main antagonist. He spares Moses as he's like a brother to him.

If you know the story of Moses, you already know that Rameses is the "bad guy", though in this movie, he’s given a bit of humanization. There are two Egyptian high priests named Hotep (Steve Martin) and Huy (Martin Short) who work for Rameses and serve as the secondary villains. They're like bumbling villainous sidekicks that also have a sinister side to them, and even have their own villain song. As Moses is performing the Miracles of God, Hotep and Huy cover it up by demonstrating that these "miracles" are the work of their Egyptian gods. They're basically personifications of propaganda.

Moses demands Rameses to let the Hebrews go, but Rameses refuses as his heart is hardened. Then we get a montage of the ten plagues being unleashed, each time Rameses refuses to free the people, in which the Egyptian Priest convince him it's the wrath of their gods. Then there's the Passover, where God sends the angel of death to kill the people's first-born children. Moses and his people brush lamb blood on their door frames to keep out the angel of death. However, Rameses doesn't follow this, and his son dies.

Heartbroken, Rameses angrily agrees to let Moses, and his people go. So, Moses leads the Hebrews out of Egypt and parts the waters of the red sea to get across. Here, we see a neat breathtaking view of the ocean, where we see fish and a whale. However, a vengeful Rameses sends his men after the Hebrews ordering them to kill them all on sight. To save his people, Moses closes the waters behind him.

The soldiers all drown, but Rameses survives as he's washed back to shore. The Hebrews are all safe, much to Rameses' dismay as he's last seen crying out to Moses in anger. Moses looks back one last time and tells Rameses "Goodbye, brother" and moves on. He and his people embark on their journey to the promised land. The movie ends with Moses walking out of Mt. Sainai with the ten commandments.

The Prince of Egypt (1998) is an excellent and very well-done animated film. It's got great animation, a very solid storyline, great voice acting, and very good songs. It's also very faithful to the original Bible story. There's nothing about The Prince of Egypt (1998) that I didn't like, and I'd even go as far as to calling it a cinematic animation masterpiece. I think for being Dreamworks' first attempt at a hand-drawn animation, it was quite impressive.

I haven’t seen all of the DreamWorks animated features. I enjoyed the first two Shrek movies, and I loved Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022). I’d say those are pretty close up there. I haven’t Seen Home (2015) or Abominable yet, so I don't have an opinion on those. I've seen the first Kung Fu Panda and the first How to Train Your Dragon, but not the sequels. The Road to El Dorado (2000) was okay in my opinion, but I found it a bit too derivative of Disney’s Aladdin (1992). (I think I’m going to review that one next.)

Spirit was pretty good. I kind of like Sinbad, but it was a little weird. I’ve seen all three Trolls movies, and they were pretty good. I thought Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken (2023) was decent. I liked Joseph: King of Dreams (2000), but that’s a direct-to-video spin-off so it doesn’t really count. Shark Tale (2004) was “eh”. Antz was pretty good, but it's been a while so I may have to rewatch it.

I recently watched Shrek the Third (2007) and Shrek: Forever After (2010) and they were okay. The first Puss in Boots (2011) was pretty good. I enjoyed both Croods movies. That’s about all of the DreamWorks animated films I’ve seen (not including the ones from Aardman).

This movie, however, is very special to me for a few reasons. 1. It’s one of the first movies I saw in theaters. 2. I’ve always been fascinated with the story of Moses as I’ve grown up hearing it in Sunday school. Also, I support hand-drawn animation. So, those are the reasons why The Prince of Egypt (1998) is my favorite DreamWorks animated film. For you it might be Shrek (2001), but to each their own.

I give The Prince of Egypt a solid 10/10.

Have you seen The Prince of Egypt (1998)? What did you think? Did you like it? Did you not like it? Did you think it was okay? Let me know in the comments.

You can check out my video review on YouTube: